My Little Pony: Friendship and Courage
by Pokemon Trainer Nathan
Summary: Soul is just an ordinary earth pony on his way to Ponyville to start his new life with new friends, a new job and a whole new normal experience, or so he thought, before long Soul meets a new friend named Twilight Sparkle, and finds that he is part of something much bigger then anyone in Equestria could of known, with an ancient prophecy of a long forgotten civilisation coming true
1. Chapter 1

**My Little Pony:**

**Friendship & Courage**

**Chapter 1 "Living Legend Part 1"**

"_In a time before our own, before pony's came together as one and before their great kingdoms where formed, there existed an incredible and mighty civilisation built on magic and wonder...they were called: The Aura's."_

"_The Aura's were a proud and special breed of pony's, resembling the Earth breed of pony yet able to harness the power of magic without the use of a horn or other magical assistance, with this power, the Aura's built massive cities and kingdoms made of gold and pure white marble which spanned the length and breadth of this land as far as the eye could see." _

"_The Aura's devoted themselves to magical knowledge, due to their own unique form of magical power they soon began achieving amazing feats of magical ability which was admired by the other pony breeds of the world and under the Aura's careful watch, the world was at peace, however, as is the way of peace, it unfortunately doesn't last."_

"_For it is said that on a cold and dark night, when the moon and the stars where absent from the sky, the Aura's, their kingdom, and every strip of their existence suddenly and mysteriously disappeared without a trace."_

"_The years passed in the lands, with the three breeds of pony we know today soon forming the kingdom of Equestria as we know it alongside the fabled Crystal empire to the north, the two kingdoms vowed to follow the Aura's example of eternal peace and prosperity to the best of their ability, however they never forgot the Aura's and never forgot the mystery surrounding their disappearance."_

"_There is a prophecy the two great kingdoms managed to derive from the Aura's disappearance, a gift left behind by the Aura's as a precursor to the future: During the age of peace, when life is full of hope and friendship, darkness shall descend upon those who carry the power of harmony, in this time of despair and anguish, a being shall arise with the power of unsurmountable courage and stand with the powers of harmony against the darkness, and the Aura's shall return."_

Princess Celestia smiled as she closed the storybook she was reading "If only such a story was true" she said with a slight laugh as she got up from her bed and walked over to her bedroom window.

Princess Celestia was the current ruler of the kingdom of Equestria; she was a grand white coloured Alicorn pony with a long flowing multi-coloured mane and tail, large elegant wings and a cutie mark that symbolized the sun, she was revered as a kind and wise princess who kept Equestria and its pony's safe and in tranquillity and she certainly tried to live up to this reputation.

"Princess Celestia!" the sound of knocking on her bedroom door drew the Princesses attention.

"Enter" she replied turning to face the door as it opened, an Equestrian royal guard walked into the room before taking off his helmet and bowed his head in respect.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you my Princess" he began looking back up at her "But it's time for your speech to the ponies of Canterlot"

"Oh yes of course" Celestia replied with a nod before walking past the guard who replaced his helmet on his head before following, as a Princess of an entire kingdom, it was Celestia's duty make speeches to the populace on certain occasions "Will my sister by attending the speech?" Celestia asked as she strode down the long decorative hallway of the palace, nodding to various other guards along the way who stood to attention in response, Celestia's sister was of cause Princess Luna: younger then Celestia by a few years yet just as regal and respected.

"No I'm sorry Princess, I'm afraid Princess Luna has refused to attend due to being…well" the guard cleared his throat a little thinking of how to put his words "not a morning person" Celestia laughed a little and nodded.

"I expected as much" she replied, soon Celestia could hear the noise of the crowd outside of the palace waiting for their Princess to appear on the palace balcony above, ponies of all shapes, sizes and breeds from Unicorns to Pegisi where awaiting the Princesses speech with anticipation and when Celestia walked out into view the crowd erupted in cheers which easily drowned out the ceremonial trumpets played by a band of royal musicians.

Celestia smiled as she looked out at the crowed below her, smiling and waving to them with a warm expression, soon the crowd quieted down to allow the Princess to speak, Celestia's unicorn horn then began to glow a light golden colour as she began to speak.

"Ponies of Canterlot!" she began, her voice was amplified thanks to a spell she had used moments before "I welcome each and every one of you to the ceremony of the sun!" the crowd cheered and clapped their hooves in response to her words, Celestia waited for the crowd to quiet down again before continuing "I am honoured to be here today as your Princess, but more importantly, I am honoured to be here today to serve as your protector of peace, justice and harmony throughout our great land of Equestria and beyond!" the crowd cheered and clapped louder as Celestia looked to the sky and spread her wings, her horn began to shine with a dazzling light and all eyes turned to the horizon, where after a few moment shone the first rays of sunlight as the sun itself rose up, shining down on Canterlot much to the applause of the crowd who watched in wonder "Have a nice and wonderful day!" the Princess concluded before waving to the pony's and walking back inside off the balcony as the trumpets sounded in response to her departure, as she made her way to the palace throne room, Celestia watched the town from the windows she passed "That reminds me" she said to herself " I must send Twilight a letter about her studies".

Meanwhile in the massive spanning Everfree forest below the mountain where Canterlot was situated, one could clearly hear the sounds of a pony lost and confused stumbling around in the dark.

"Where am I?" Soul asked himself as he tripped over yet another tree root; he had been trying to find the path thru the Everfree for almost 2 hours and it didn't look like he was making any progress, Soul was quite an ordinary looking pony at first glance, he had a dark grey coloured coat with a black mane which hung over one side of his face slightly and a matching black tail and his cutie mark was in the shape of a blue symbol that resembled a capital letter "A" with a matching blue star just underneath it "Is it morning yet?" he asked himself as he ducked under a low hanging branch "I know there's a village around here somewhere" Soul pulled out a map from his backpack as he walked and stood up on his back legs to read it as he walked, however this was a bad idea, a moment later Soul lost his footing on a slope and began to fall all the way to the bottom where he landed with a crash, he groaned in annoyance as the map landed on his face before getting up and shaking off his dizziness.

"Hey…" said a quiet whispering voice in the distance which was so quiet Soul barely heard it, however he quickly looked around in confusion.

"Uh…hello?" he replied not sure where the voice was coming from.

"Hey…" the voice repeated, only slightly louder, Soul frowned as he tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"Is somepony there?" he asked, trying to look thru the darkness of the forest.

"HEY!" the voice shouted into his ear from right next to him, this caused Soul to jump in fright grabbing onto a tree branch above him.

"What the?!" he exclaimed as he looked down expecting a dark creature of the Everfree, instead he saw a very nervous looking pony looking up at him, she had a fair coloured coat with a pink mane and tail with a symbol made up of three butterflies as a cutie mark.

"Hey…" she said very quietly again "Um...I'm sorry if I scared you Mr" she continued with a very nervous and barely audible tone, Soul carefully let go of the branch with his back legs and dropped down to the ground which made the nervous mare back away slightly.

"That's ok" Soul replied with a smile "you just startled me a little, my names Soul, what's yours?" he asked.

"Um…my name is…" the mare began, however her voice got steadily softer as she spoke until she wasn't saying anything, Soul raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm sorry what was that?" he asked.

"I-I said my name is…Fluttershy" the mare repeated, with only a minor rise in her tone, Soul however caught the last bit this time and smiled to her again.

"Nice to meet you Fluttershy" he said, Fluttershy made a small smile.

"I-it's nice to meet you too" she said after a while "I saw you fall down that slope, you're not hurt are you?" she asked, Soul shook his head.

"No I'm fine, I'm tougher then I look" he said with a smirk, Fluttershy smiled a little more and nodded in response.

"You also seem lost, would you…like some help finding the village?" she asked, Soul blinked a little then nodded happily.

"Yes I would, thank you" he said, Fluttershy smiled and nodded.

"Then please, follow me" with that Fluttershy turned and began making her way thru the forest undergrowth with Soul following at her side, they walked for 10 minutes thru seemingly endless forest but Fluttershy seemed to know where she was going regardless, after a while she glanced at Soul.

"Are you new to this place?" she asked, Soul nodded.

"I've been travelling for a while" he replied " I left my godmothers farm a few weeks ago because I wanted to find somewhere to settle down in elsewhere, so far no such luck" Fluttershy nodded a little.

"Ponyville is close by, I think you'll like it, it's a small but nice place" she said, Soul nodded with a smile, Fluttershy then wore a confused expression as she looked at him " you say you lived with your godmother, what about your mom and dad?" Soul looked back at her with an equally confused expression.

"I'm not sure" he said "I've been living with my godmother ever since I was a kid, she told me my mother had left me in her care but I can't remember her nor my dad at all" Fluttershy now looked on the edge of tears.

"That's so sad" she said, Soul smiled to her not wanting her to get upset.

"It's ok" he responded quickly "I'm sure my parents had a reason for leaving me with my godmother and she's been a great mom, though I do wonder sometimes if-" before Soul could finish a bright light shone in front of him, he looked forward to see a break in the tree line.

"Here we are" Fluttershy said with a smile as she ran forward a little out of the tree's looking back at him "Come on Soul" Soul smiled and ran after her happy to be finally out of the forest, soon he and Fluttershy came to the entrance of the village of Ponyville, as Fluttershy had described it was a small yet nice looking village with ponies of every breed calling it home.

Soul smiled as he walked with Fluttershy down the main street of the town, passing homes, shops and other ponies that smiled and said hello every so often.

"This place is great" Soul said happily as he walked, Fluttershy smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Ponyville is a place for all pony's great and small" she replied "come on there's somepony I want you to meet" Soul eagerly followed Fluttershy as she lead him thru the main square of the town and down another street, as they walked, Soul couldn't help but look around like a kid in a candy shop, however he suddenly bumped into someone which made him snap back to attention.

"Oh I'm sorry" he said quickly looking to the pony he had bumped into, she was a pink coloured pony with a matching puffy mane and tail that to soul resembled cotton candy, the pony's cutie mark seemed to be made up of Balloons, wanting to be friendly Soul smiled to her "My names Soul, I'm kind of new in town, it's nice to meet-" before Soul to finish the pink pony sprung into the air and gasped loudly before taking off at a run down the street, leaving a very confused Soul in the dust " what was that?" he asked himself.

"Come on Soul" said Fluttershy from ahead of him which made him snap back to reality and he quickly caught up with her, still confused as to who he had just met.

Soon Soul and Fluttershy came up to a large tree which stood a little away from the main town area, Soul saw it had been made into a large home.

"Who lives here?" he asked looking to Fluttershy, she smiled and walked up to the door and knocked three times with a hoof.

"You'll see" she replied as Soul walked up next to her, a moment later the door opened and Soul saw a small purple creature that looked like a dragon standing in the doorway.

"Oh hello Fluttershy" the dragon said with a smile, he then looked to Soul and wore a slightly confused expression "and hey there…uh" he put a claw to his mouth in confusion.

"Oh right, silly me, I'm sorry Spike" Fluttershy said making a nervous laugh "This is Soul, I met him in the Everfree forest, he might be coming to stay in Ponyville" Spike looked to Fluttershy then to Soul then smiled.

"Oh, well welcome" he said "the names Spike" he offered Soul a hand, Soul smiled back and offered his hoof which Spike shook.

"Nice to meet you Spike" Soul said with a nod "Um…sorry if I sound rude but, are you a dragon?" he asked, Spike smirked and folded his arms acting cool.

"That's right!" he said loudly "I'm a pure 100% real dragon, pretty cool huh?"

"Spike who are you talking too?" came another voice, Spike looked back into the home then stepped aside as a pony walked up next to him, Soul saw that she was a unicorn pony with a purple coat, a matching purple mane with a stripe of pink in it and a purple coloured tail with a cutie mark made up of purple and pink stars.

"Hello Twilight" Fluttershy said happily.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight replied before the two embraced in a friendly hug "I didn't expect to see you today"

"Yes, so sorry for showing up uninvited Twilight" Fluttershy said smiling to her friend, she then looked to Soul "I wanted you to meet a new friend I met in the Everfree forest" Soul smiled to Twilight who looked at him slightly puzzled.

"Hi" Soul said waving a hoof a little "My names Soul, nice to meet you" Twilight tilted her head a little and walked up to Soul which made him step back a little.

"You're not from Ponyville are you?" She asked as she stepped around Soul as if examining him, Soul watched her a little nervous before nodding.

"Um, that's right, I travelled here from my home in the Macintosh Hills where I lived with my Godmother…is something wrong?" he asked, Twilight was now standing in front of him again and looked at him with a curious expression.

"I dunno, something about you seems odd…" she frowned slightly which made Soul look uneasy, however Twilight suddenly smiled happily "I'm just being silly!" she then exclaimed "welcome to Ponyville" Soul sighed a little in relief and smiled back " Would you two like to come in?" Twilight continued "I'm in the middle of reorganising but I can spare a few minutes" Twilight then turned and walked back inside her home with Spike, followed shortly after by Fluttershy and Soul, the inside of the home was literally covering from floor to ceiling with bookshelves filled with books, whatever didn't fit on the shelves was piled high in the corners.

"Wow!" Soul exclaimed as he looked around, Twilight smiled turning to them when they got to the centre of the room.

"Sorry the place looks a mess" she said, Soul however was already over at a book shelf looking at the book titles, which he saw where all mostly magic related and smiled as he took out a book and opened it, Twilight noticed this and smiled also "Are you into magic?" she asked, Soul looked to her and shut the book.

"Well kind of" he said as he put the book back and walked back to the others "All the unicorns I've met have been so cool with how they use their magic, too bad I was born an earth pony" Twilight nodded in understanding.

"Maybe I can lend you a few once you settle in, even if you can't use magic I'm sure you'd still enjoy reading about it" Twilight said, Soul nodded eagerly.

"Um…Twilight, Soul" Fluttershy said making the two look at her, Spike was now carrying books around the home putting them away while the others spoke "I just remembered…I need to…um…well…I need to head home and feed Angel and the others" Fluttershy continued looking a little sad again.

"Well that's ok" Twilight replied "I can show Soul around a bit more" Twilight smiled to Soul who nodded then looked to Fluttershy.

"Thanks again for helping me out of the forest Fluttershy" he said " I hope I see you again" Fluttershy nodded with a small smile and walked to the door before waving to Soul and Twilight as she ran off, Soul and Twilight waved back as they watched her go.

"Well" Twilight began which made Soul look at her "If you're gunna be staying in Ponyville I guess I should introduce you to the others" Soul looked a little curious.

"Others?" he asked, Twilight smiled to him before looking up at the next level where Spike was busy putting books away.

"Spike watch the home while I'm out ok?" she said, Spike nodded as he worked.

"Yeah yeah I got it" he said, Twilight smiled back to Soul then walked out of the home with him.

Twilight smiled as she walked alongside Soul on their way thru Ponyville, Soul was smiling also, happy to have made new friends in a new place so quickly, he glanced at Twilight as they walked, still curious as to why she had been so puzzled with him a moment before but his curiosity soon left him as Twilight came to a stop in front of a very ornate and dazzling looking home, Twilight then smiled to Soul before walking to the door.

"Let's hope Rarity isn't too busy" she said as she knocked, the door opened a moment later and a beautiful white coated pony with a swirling purple mane and tail with a cutie mark in the form of diamonds appeared in the doorway, she was wearing a pair of red lined glasses and looked a little annoyed, however when she saw Twilight she smiled happily.

"Twilight darling!" she said with a very posh sounding accent before hugging her.

"It's good to see you too Rarity: Twilight replied hugging back.

"What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Rarity asked, Twilight was about to speak however Rarity's gaze fell on Soul and in a second she gasped as if in horror making Soul jump a little.

"Oh my!" she shouted, before Twilight or Soul could say a word, Rarity grabbed Soul and quickly pulled him into the home.

"HEY!" was all that Soul could say before Rarity had him up on a podium and was moving around him with a measuring tape.

"Darling you simply cannot walk around looking like that!" she said in an almost scolding tone as she quickly ran over to her sewing machine and began working at it, Soul watched with utter confusion as Twilight walked up to him rolling her eyes.

"Sorry about that" she said "I forgot to mention that Rarity has a serious eye for fashion"

"Oh" was Souls only reply, still stunned over what had happened, soon Rarity smiled walking back over to the two and threw what appeared to be a black coat onto Souls back.

"Perfect!" she said using her magic to make a mirror appear in front of Soul, who looked at his reflection still confused, he then noticed the coat.

"Um, thank you" he said smiling a little, Rarity smiled back.

"Now that we've got that horrible business out of the way, who might you, be?" she asked draping her measuring tape around her neck.

"My names Soul, I'm new in town, nice to meet you" Soul answered as he looked back at her having finished examining his new coat "I don't know what I did to deserve this new coat but thanks a lot" he continued, Rarity smirked a little.

"Well I can't have a friend of mine walking around town looking like a riff raff now can I darling" she said with an over the top posh laugh, Soul just smiled and laughed back not knowing what to say, Twilight was silently giggling to herself in response to the two.

After saying goodbye to Rarity, Twilight and Soul continued their walk around Ponyville with Twilight leading the way, Soul was still admiring the coat Rarity had given him.

"It was pretty nice of her to make me this" he said looking up to Twilight "Though I'm still confused as to why" Twilight smirked a little looking to him.

"Rarity hates anything she finds unfashionable" she replied "she did the same thing when I first met her" Soul laughed a little and nodded.

"LOOK OUT!" before either Soul or Twilight could react, something hard and fast smashed headlong into them knocking all of them into the ground with a crash, ending up in a pile of pony's with Soul on the bottom who now looked dazed.

"Did anyone get the number of that train that hit me?" he said, his head still spinning, Twilight shook off her dizziness as she got up, the third pony whom had crashed into them got up as well.

"Oh dang!" she said as she offered Soul a hoof to help him up "sorry about that, I misjudged the wind direction" once Soul had his vision back to normal he saw the pony was a blue pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane and tail and had a matching rainbow lightning bolt and a cloud for a cutie mark "hey" the pegasus continued "I don't think I know you"

"Dash this is Soul" Twilight said with a groan as she fixed her mane, Dash looked to Twilight then back to Soul again who nodded a little, Dash then smirked.

"Well nice to meet ya!" she said "names Rainbow Dash I'm sure you've heard of me wherever you're from"

"Um….I'm sorry no" Soul replied shaking his head "there aren't many pegasi where I came from" Dash frowned at this which made Soul quickly correct himself "But I'm sure your every bit as cool as you say you are!" he quickly added with a small nervous laugh, Dash seemed convinced and nodded.

"You bet I am!" she said walking to Soul putting an arm around him "I'll have to show you some of my sweet moves sometime, but for now I gotta go, I've got a little more work to do before the day is up, see you both later!" with that Dash flew away at a blinding speed and was gone before Soul to realise what was going on, leaving him looking like he was dazed again, eventually he looked to Twilight.

"What just happened?" he asked, Twilight however just laughed and pointed down the road.

"Come on, there's still a couple of people you need to meet" she said as she began walking, Soul soon got over his confusion and smiled as he followed her.

Soon the pair reached the outskirts of Ponyville; Soul soon began to notice a lot of crop fields and farming equipment behind white fences as they made their way down a dirt road.

"So who's this next pony I'm meeting?" Soul asked, Twilight smiled and kept walking.

"You'll see, it's just up ahead" she replied, Soul nodded and kept following her as they walked over a small hill in the road, on the other side Soul saw a large farm house area that made his jaw drop a little, the main farmhouse and barn was surrounded by a number of apple trees, next to the main area was row upon rows of apple tree acres that spanned for as far as Soul could see "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres" Twilight said as they walked thru the main farm gate.

"I haven't seen a farm like this in ages!" Soul said looking around.

"Well howdy there!" Soul and Twilight looked around to see an earth pony walking up to them, she was light orange in colour with a yellow mane and tail and had three apples as a cutie mark, she wore a brown cowboy hat and was carrying two baskets full of apples on her back which she put down as she walked over to them "Shucks Twilight if I had known you were a comin I'd of prepared a little lunch" Twilight smiled before looking to Soul.

"Soul this is Applejack, a good friend who along with her two siblings own Sweet Apple Acres" Soul smiled and nodded looking to Applejack.

"Nice to meet you" he said happily "I love your farm, it reminds me of where I grew up" Applejack smiled and tipped her hat a little.

"Well that's mighty kind of you to say so" she replied "Guess that means you're not from around these parts" Soul nodded slightly.

"I come from quite far away, I travelled here to find a new place to live, and I think I found just the place" he said " Which reminds me" he continued "I'm gunna need a job here, you know I pretty good at farm work, any chance you have an opening?" he asked, Applejack now looked at Soul with a hard expression narrowing her eyes slightly as if trying to read his mind, Soul looked a little nervous but kept her gaze thinking it to be some kind of test.

"Well I dunno" she finally said "I did just meet ya'll" Soul looked a little disappointed at this, however Applejack smiled "But who am I to judge!" she continued which made Soul look back up to her with a smile "Tell ya what Soul, why don't you come by the farm bright and early tomorrow and we'll see what your made off, you impress me and I may just give you a position here!"

"I'll do that" Soul replied happily nodding "Thank you Applejack" Applejack nodded in response.

"But right now let me introduce the others!" she said, she then turned on the spot and gave a shrill whistle, almost instantly two other pony's came up beside Applejack, one was a cute young filly with a bowtie in her mane, the other was a larger older pony with a red coat and a semi blank expression "This here's my younger sister Applebloom" Applejack began, Applebloom smiled to Soul who smiled and waved back " and over here is my older brother Big Macintosh, though we all just call him Big Mac for short"

"Eyup" said Big Mac.

"This here is Soul" Applejack continued "He's new in town, so none of your pranks little lady" she said frowning to Applebloom a little who whistled casually looking the other way "Big brother, Soul here says he grew up on a Farm of his own, what do you think about him coming to work with us?" Applejack asked, Big Mac looked to her then looked to Soul and was silent for a few moments.

"Could be handy" he replied finally, Soul smiled and Applejack nodded.

"Well that settles it, we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning" she said nodding to Soul, Soul nodded back and opened his mouth to reply, but was suddenly hit with a water balloon which exploded, drenching him completely and leaving him with a shocked expression "APPLEBLOOM!" shouted Applejack as she took off chasing after her sister who was laughing hysterically.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Soul!" Applebloom shouted back at him as she made her escape into the apple orchards with her sister close behind, Big Mac simply watched the two for a moment before walking back to the farm house, leaving Soul soaked to the bone and Twilight trying desperately not to laugh.

After drying off, Soul and Twilight made their way back into Ponyville, Soul was looking less cheerful thanks to Appleblooms prank, his mane now hanging over his face.

"Cheer up" Twilight said to him as they walked back into the main square of the village "Applebloom was only playing around, besides I'm sure she got more than a talking to from Applejack as a result" Soul shook out his mane a little trying to dry it and nodded to Twilight.

"I know" he replied "At least I'll have a chance to get her back tomorrow" Twilight nodded at this.

"Now there's only one person left I want you to meet" Twilight started as they stopped in the village centre and began looking around "but where could she-"

"SURPRISE!" suddenly Twilight and Soul where showered with confetti and streamers from a cannon someone had set off, making Soul jump a foot, Twilight merely shook her head smiling, after Soul had recovered from his heart attack he noticed someone had put a party hat on his head, he also saw that there was now a group of pony's standing around him and Twilight all smiling at him, however the one directly in front of him seemed to be smiling the most.

"Uh" he began.

"Are you surprised?! I bet you were surprised! Even I was Surprised! It's so surprising and so exciting!" the pony began talking very fast and excitedly.

"Uh" Soul said again.

"Hi there!" the pony said gripping Souls hoof and shaking it rapidly "My names Pinkie Pie! What's yours?!" Pinkie then let go of Soul and stood waiting for his answer with a smile on her face, Soul shook his head a little and looks back at Pinkie and noticed she was the pink pony he had met earlier.

"Uh, my names Soul-" Soul said, however he was cut off by another cannon of confetti going off in his face.

"Soul!" shouted Pinkie, the crowd of pony's clapped and cheered "Welcome to Ponyville! Oh I just know we'll be the best of friends in no time!" Everything was a blur for Soul after that, someone had put music on and soon every pony in the area was dancing, talking and eating from a buffet table that someone had wheeled in while no one was looking, Soul stood in the centre of it all a little taken back by the instant party what was going on until Twilight nudged him which snapped him out of his trance.

"A little unexpected huh?" she said smiling as she took a sip from a drink she had gotten before handing Soul another, Soul took the drink and took a sip as well.

"A little unexpected yeah" he said looking around, Pinkie was jumping around now wearing a party hat as well blowing on party streamer "But why throw a party for me?" Soul asked Twilight.

"It's just how Pinkie welcomes someone to the village" Twilight replied " Don't worry she isn't always this excitable…most of the time" Soul nervously laughed at this and continued to look around at all the partying going on around them, for the next few hours Soul participated in the party's activities, ranging from "Pin the tail on the Pony" to "Blind Pony's Bluff", eventually the party began to wind down and pony's began leaving for home, all of them however said goodbye to Soul and a last "Welcome" before leaving with Pinkie thanking them one by one, Finally it was only Twilight, Soul and Pinkie in the area, Soul and Twilight both looked worn out but Pinkie was looking as cheerful and bouncy as ever.

"Did you enjoy your party?" Pinkie asked bouncing over to them "Oh I bet you did! Of course you did! How could any pony not enjoy it?!" Soul smiled waiting for Pinkie to finish before answering.

"I was great Pinkie" he said " I appreciate the effort you went to put this on for me, so thank you" Soul smiled happily and gave pinkie a small hug, however Pinkie instantly wrapped her front hooves around Soul and pulled him into an even bigger hug that began to chock him.

"I knew you'd love it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" she began hugging Soul tighter who began gasping for air "As soon as I saw you I was like" she made a loud gasping noise similar to the one she made when she first saw Soul " and then you were all like huh?" Soul was beginning to turn blue in the face, luckily Pinkie let him go and Soul stood panting loudly for air.

"Thank you Pinkie!" he said quickly to stop her continuing for a moment "it was very nice of you" he continued forcing a smile still panting heavily, Pinkie didn't to mind however and smiled back.

"My pleasure!" she said "But unfortunately I gotta get back to the bakery and help Mr. and Mrs. Cake close up shop, but don't worry! I'll see you sooooon!" with a final wave, Pinkie bounced off happily humming to herself, leaving a still panting Soul and Twilight in the now mess covered village centre, pony's soon arrived to clean up the mess but by that time Soul and Twilight where long gone as well.

"Well that's everypony" Twilight said to Soul as they strode back down the road towards her home " I hope you enjoyed your first day in Ponyville, I understand Pinkie is going to let you use the spare room above the bakery until you get a place for your own" Soul nodded.

"Yeah, she's been very kind, though I hope she doesn't throw me a party every time I walk into the room" he replied jokingly, Twilight laughed a little and nodded.

"Yeah that wouldn't be the best"

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Twilight and Soul stopped in their tracks at the voice and looked ahead of them to see a pony standing in their way, Soul looked at the pony in confusion, Twilight however glared, standing in front of them was a unicorn pony who was blue in colour and was dressed in a witch's hat and cloak, she wore a smug smirk as she walked up to them, Twilight stepped back a little but Soul stood his ground not knowing who it was, the pony walked up to Soul and frowned a little at him "get out of my way you fool!" she demanded.

"Soul!" Twilight shouted, Soul looked back at Twilight confused then looked back to the pony in time to see her horn glow, Soul was then hit by a hard blast of magic and sent flying back into the ground behind twilight with a loud thud, the pain from the spell and from hitting the ground made him wince and cry out, Twilight ran to him looking worried but then glared at the pony.

"How could you Trixie!?" she shouted, Trixie laughed as Soul frowned getting to his feet and looked at her.

"Oh what's wrong?" she asked with a smirk on her face again "did I hurt you little friend?"

"Who is that?" Soul asked limping slightly; Twilight gave him a worried look seeing this but frowned back at the blue unicorn in front of them.

"That's Trixie" she began "Or the Great and Powerful Trixie if you take her word for it, she's a mean and nasty Unicorn who wants nothing more than to see others miserable" Soul frowned more at this, Trixie however didn't seem to notice or care and laughed again.

"That's not true" she said as her horn began to glow again "I just want to see you miserable!" Trixie then lowered her head aiming her horn at them before firing a large blast of blue magic, Twilight gasped and summoned up a magical shield and blocked the attack which deflected off into the air.

"Trixie stop it!" she shouted, Trixie however continued to fire off spells at Twilight, forcing her to jump back to avoid them and use her own magic to block with shields, while this was going on, Soul was watching from the sidelines with his teeth barred feeling helpless, he stood and watched as Trixie continued to barrage Twilight with spell after spell, Twilight was doing a good job blocking them, but it was clear she was getting tired.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted running at Trixie, ignoring the pain in his side, Trixie simply smirked at him, with a glow of her horn Soul was hit by an invisible blast of magic in the side of the face and was sent flying back again, hitting the ground hard, he gaged a little from the pain and winced, having hit on the same side as last time, Trixie laughed and walked over to him, standing over Soul a little as he shakily got to his feet.

"You think you can stop the great and powerful Trixie like that?" she mockingly asked laughing "what a joke! Your nothing compared to me!"

"That's enough" Soul said bravely frowning Trixie down, Trixie simply smirked again and hit Soul with an even harder blast of magic, this time knocking him into a wall of a home, Twilight gasped in worried then glared at Trixie again before firing her own spell towards her, Trixie deflected it with a shield and two began fighting again.

As Soul slowly got to his feet a second time, he frowned at the ground his teeth clenched, half from pain, half from anger "That's enough!" he said again looking up at the fight, Trixie was pushing Twilight back into a corner, laughing victoriously as she pressed on harder with her menacing barrage of magic, Twilight was beginning in falter do the constant hammering she was taking.

Finally, with one large blast of magic, Twilights magical shield shattered like glass, making her recoil as a result, Trixie grinned smugly as Twilight fell to her knee's panting, exhausted.

"So much for the amazing Twilight and her magical skill!" she exclaimed with a laugh as she began to charge another spell into her horn, Twilight frowned at her getting to her feet, not about to let Trixie have the satisfaction, Trixie laughed at this as she aimed her horn at Twilight intending for a point black attack.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" yelled Soul so loudly and suddenly, it made Trixie jump a little and whirl around to look at him, Soul was on his feet snorting angrily, his shoulders hunched and panting thru barred teeth, Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you be a good little pony and" Trixie was cut off by what she saw, Soul's eyes had begun to glow a light blue colour, soon his entire body was glowing with a faint blue aura which kept growing and growing until it was like a roaring fire all around him, Trixie watched with a confused frown, Twilight looked with a wide eyed expression just as confused, Soul then tensed and squeezed his eyes shut tight, suddenly the glowing aura around him exploded outwards in a giant eruption of energy, Trixie yelled out in shock as the explosion engulfed her and Twilight, the massive dome of energy then exploded further, sending a massive pillar of smoke up into the air and shaking the ground, the entire village felt the resulting shockwave, causing many pony's to run in panic, Fluttershy, Rarity, Dash, Applejack and Pinkie all heard and felt the explosion before seeing the massive pillar of smoke rising into the sky.

"That's coming from Twilights place!" Dash said with a frown before flying like a bullet towards it, the others all came to same conclusion and ran in the same direction.

When they reached the area, they found that the entire place had been blown up by the explosion leaving a large crater, thankfully, Twilights home had escaped any real damage and Spike was standing at the door looking as confused as everyone else.

"What happened here?" Fluttershy asked looking very shaky and fearful, the group all walked to the edge of the crater and looked into it, they saw Soul standing in the centre panting hard and covered in dust and black ash from the explosion, he was still slightly glowing with the blue aura and glaring up at the other side of the crater where Trixie now stood, however she was now looking worse for wear, she too was covered in dust from the blast and her hat and cloak where ripped and burnt as a result, Twilight was standing next to Soul and looked the least hurt out of the three, however she was now looking at Soul with shock and confusion above all else.

"What the hay did you just do!?" Trixie yelled down at Soul who didn't answer and continued to just glare at her.

"Twilight! Soul!" Twilight looked to see the others running down to them, Trixie saw this all and barred her teeth slightly and made an annoyed growl

"Darn it, you haven't seen the last of me! You hear me! I don't know how you did that new guy! But I'll get you back for this!" Trixie then disappearing in a flash of magic, Soul then looked to Twilight and winced a little looking only half conscious.

"Twilight" was all he managed to utter before falling on his side out cold, to the great shock of the others who all crowded around him

"Is he ok?" Rarity asked.

"What the hay happened here?" Applejack demanded frowning a little at Twilight, Twilight was still at a loss for words as she looked down at Soul worried.

"I…I believe Soul used magic to save me" she finally said, the others all looked at each other and to her with confused looks.

"But that's impossible" Dash stated "Soul is an earth pony he can't use magic!" seemingly at Dash's words, Souls cutie mark began to glow the same blue colour as his aura did moments ago, drawing everyone's attention to it, finally Applejack broke the silence.

"We need to get poor Soul to the hospital pronto!" she announced gently picking Soul up and throwing him over her back, the others all nodded in agreement and ran with Applejack back into the main town, Twilight however stayed behind watching them go, Spike ran over to her looking as confused as everyone else.

"Twilight what's going on? Are you ok? What happened?" he asked firing off questions, Twilight didn't answer for a moment then looked up at the sky.

"Spike…parchment and quill…I must send a letter to Princess Celestia about this.


	2. Chapter 2

**My Little Pony:**

**Friendship & Courage**

**Chapter 2 "Living Legend Part 2"**

"I really do think your over exaggerating Luna" Princess Celestia stated as she sat upon the Equestrian throne arguing with her sister for the third time today, all the while signing partitions and other royal papers as per her duty.

"For the final time sister" Luna replied with an annoyed frown "there has been a lot of strange magical activity throughout Canterlot for over a month and I believe we are dealing with a dark sorceress" Celestia sighed a little as she used her magic to lower the parchment and quill she was using and looked at Luna with a calm expression, Celestia loved her sister as anyone would, but she could be very impulsive at times.

"Very well" she said finally " I'll assign a few of the kingdoms gaurds to investigate the matter, hopefully you'll be wrong and it'll something harmless" Luna frowned again and scoffed before turning on her hooves and walking out of the throne room.

"You are too lenient sister" she scolded looking back at Celestia "It will come back to bite you sooner or later" Celestia watched as Luna disappeared around the corner of the hall and shook her head a little before picking up the first in the stack if many letters beside her, she smiled as she opened one after another with magic and read thru them all, most where letters from dignitaries and a few where from friends, finally Celestia noticed a letter addressed to her from Twilight and smiled.

"Ah this must be Twilights latest update in her study's" she said as she opened the letter and read thru it, however as she read, Celestia's expression gradually changed from a smile to a look of concern and a confusion "…What in Equestria?"

"Where am I?" Soul asked himself, he appeared to be walking thru a pitch black room and couldn't even see his own hoof in front of his face, he had been walking for what seemed like hours with no change in sight, suddenly Soul noticed a small sparkle of light ahead of him, he narrowed his eyes a little trying to see what it was and noticed the ball of light seemed to be getting bigger and brighter, soon is was a blinding inferno in front of him "What's going on?!" he shouted aloud in confusion, suddenly the bright ball of light exploded in a brilliant flash engulfing Soul completely causing him to yell out, Soul then found himself sitting bolt upright in what appeared to be a hospital bed, after registering his surroundings, Soul felt a searing pain all over his body and winced falling back down onto the bed.

"Hey ya'll look!" said Applejacks voice "He's awake!" Soul opened his eyes again and saw Applejack, Twilight and the others all looking down at him from around the sides of the bed with mixed expressions of worry.

"Oh thank Celestia" Twilight said with a smile, the others all smiled also, Soul winced slightly as he sat up again and Applejack frowned helping him a little.

"Careful now Sugar cube" She said "Ya'll still need to rest a little after what you went thru"

"What happened?" Soul asked looking from each of his friends; they all didn't answer looking as curious as Soul was.

"We were hoping you could tell us" Twilight finally responded, Soul looked to her then looked to his lap as he tried to recall.

"I remember you and that Trixie girl fighting" he said looking to Twilight again "and then I felt this burning sensation" The others all exchanged looked at each other and to Soul as they listened "and then I saw this light suddenly explode all around me…then I woke up here" Soul concluded.

"Twilight said you used some kind of awesome magic to help her!" Dash said moving in front of Soul and giving him a searching gaze "But you're clearly an Earth pony, so how'd you do it?" Soul looked at her with pure confusion.

"But I can't use magic" he replied getting a little uneasy now, Dash frowned at this and took a step closer to Soul.

"Are you holding out on us?" she accused "Spill it! What did you really do?!"

"Dash leave him be!" Applejack cut in frowning at the blue Pegasus, the two started staring each other down until Soul made a wince holding a hoof to his side where he had been hurt by Trixie, a nurse had bandaged it for him but he was still feeling the effects, Applejack and Dash quickly went back to looking concerned at this point, Twilight however was now frowning at the floor.

"I just can't understand it" she said shaking her head a little "I know what I saw and it was clearly an explosion of magical energy, it's a common accident for young unicorns using magic for the first time to cause similar outbursts" she looked up at Soul who was listening intently "I myself remember when I was little and I was doing my magical exam, I lost control and let off a large explosion similar to the one you caused Soul, though not as big or as powerful"

"But that still doesn't explain how I did it" Soul replied looking more fearful then confused now.

"Maybe I could help shed some light on this situation" everyone in the room looked to the door and saw Celestia walking in.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cried with amazement, the group all then bowed their heads in respect, Soul watched Celestia with wonder, he had heard about the ruling Princesses from his godmother, however he has never seen Celestia before and bowed his head also, wincing in pain as a result, Celestia saw this and made a gentle smile as she walked over to the bedside.

"There is no need for formalities my friends" she said looking to the group who all smiled back at her.

"Princess" Twilight continued "I assume my letter reached you?" she asked, Celestia nodded and then looked to Soul who hastily tried to smarten himself up to the best of his ability, Celestia silently laughed a little seeing this and smiled to him.

"So your Soul" she said, Soul nodded a little not sure what to say at the present moment "Twilight told me a lot about you in her letter, she also told me you saved her from Trixie, I'm very grateful"

"Thank you Princess" Soul replied before looking down a little "though I think I did more harm than good" Celestia smiled again, Applejack then nudged dash in the side and pointed to the door.

"Come on ya'll, let's give the princess some room!" she stated before walking out of the room pushing an uncooperative Dash ahead of her, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy soon followed leaving Soul alone with Twilight and Celestia, Celestia then glanced at Twilight then back to Soul with a more serious expression on her face.

"Soul" she began, speaking in a calm voice which somehow made Soul feel even more uneasy " Twilight told me that you used magic in order to save her, is that true?" she asked, Soul looked to Twilight who nodded a little before answering.

"Yes ma'am" he said nodding "I don't know how I did it myself, but when I saw Twilight hurt I just exploded…literally" Celestia nodded at his response.

"The use of magic by a non-unicorn breed pony is very rare, as far as I know; the Crystal ponies of the Crystal Empire are the only existing exception"

"But Soul isn't a crystal pony as far as I know" Twilight cut in "he doesn't have the same attributes and his magic didn't feel the same" while the two were talking, Soul managed to get himself up and climb out of bed standing at the bedside, when Twilight saw this she gasped and frowned "Soul! What are you doing?!" she said in a scolding tone.

"I just wanted to stretch my legs a little" Soul replied with a small pout, Celestia shook her head with a small smile admiring Souls determination, she then noticed his cutie mark which made her eyes go wide and she made a surprised gasp.

"That mark!" she exclaimed, making Soul and Twilight turn their attention to her.

"Huh?" Soul said confused, he looked to his cutie mark and then back to Celestia "it's just my cutie mark ma'am, nothing too special"

"No" Celestia replied shaking her head "your cutie mark is…but it can't be!" Twilight took a step towards Celestia now with a worried look for her.

"Princess?" she asked "your starting to scare me, what are you concerned about?" Celestia looked to Twilight then back to Soul before composing herself.

"Soul…Twilight…have you ever heard the story of the Aura's?" she asked, Soul and Twilight looked at each other than shook their heads in unison.

"No ma'am" they both said at the same time, Celestia nodded, her horn then shined a bright light and the story book she had been reading previously appeared, opening it with magic and began telling the story of the Aura's, both Soul and Twilight sat listening intently, Souls expression changed from confusion, to curiosity and finally to a solemn frown to the ground, Twilight glanced at him every so often with a concerned expression, finally when the story was over, Celestia closed the book and looked to them.

"Though it may only be a story, ever since I was young I believed there was a hint of truth to it" she said "The Aura's where powerful magic users who were vanguards of peace and knowledge, they were also known as great warriors, fighting for justice" she smiled looking to Twilight "it was this story that inspired me to be the best Princess I could be for my subjects"

Twilight smiled back with a nod "This is so exciting" she said looking to Soul "if you're really an Aura you could be one of the best magic users in the" Twilight stopped mid-sentence as she looked at Soul and was shocked to see he was gone, she and Celestia where so busy talking they hadn't noticed him slip out of the room.

"Oh my!" Celestia cried and looked to the now open door; Twilight barred her teeth a little and ran out looking around.

"Soul!?" she called "Soul come back!"

Soul meanwhile had made a break for it out the back door of the hospital, running as fast as his injured legs could carry him thru ponyville heading for the outskirts, pony's watched in amazement and shock as he ran past covered in bandages, Soul himself was panting hard from pain and from fear, having taken the news of being an Aura very badly, his mind was racing with thoughts of his magical accident and thoughts of hurting Twilight and the others as a result which made him start to cry, soon he was running past Sweet Apple Acres, heading for the village outskirts.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Twilight, Celestia and the rest of the group ran out of the main doors and looked around frantically for Soul.

"How did he get past the main desk looking like that?" Rarity asked looking to Twilight who was frowning as she looked around.

"He's got skill I'll give him that" Dash replied, now hovering in the air with a hoof on her forehead trying to see Soul in the distance.

"We need to find him at once!" Celestia called looking to the group drawing their attention "Soul is most likely gripped with feelings of misunderstanding and fear after hearing what I said"

"We need to split up ya'll!" Applejack concluded looking to the others "Fluttershy and I will search the farm! Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you two search in the main town area! Dash! Do your thing and look from the sky! Twilight and Princess Celestia! You two check the outskirts!" everyone nodded understanding their roles

"Right!" they all said at once before running off with their partner to search their given area, Applejack and Fluttershy ran as fast as they could back to the farm and with the help of Applebloom and Big Mac began to search the farm house, barn and apple fields, Rarity and Pinkie began walking thru the various streets of Ponyville, looking in shops and asking passing pony's if they had seen anything, Dash was flying around in the sky getting a bird's eye view of the entire area and Twilight and Celestia travelled to the village outskirts looking for any sign of their missing friend.

"I can't see him anywhere" Twilight said looking back to Celestia with a look of utter hopelessness on her face, Celestia frowned seeing this and walked to her looking to the village entrance and to the Everfree forest.

"Calm down" she said "Soul couldn't have gotten too far in his condition, we will find him" Twilight nodded a little at her teacher's words.

"I SEE HIM!" Dash swooped down and pointed off to the edge of the Everfree, Twilight whirled around to look in the direction and just as Dash had said she saw Soul running along the edge of the tree line as if trying to find the pathway, she frowned and began to run towards him, Dash made a move to follow but was held back by Celestia biting her tail.

"Princess!" Dash exclaimed in protest, Celestia frowned and shook her head letting Dash go.

"Let Twilight do this herself, she is just as worried for Soul as you are but this situation requires a gentler touch, we don't know if Soul will lose control of his magic again or not, have faith that Twilight can calm him down" Celestia said with a frown, Dash attempted to protest, however Celestia's expression made her think better of it and she bit back her retort.

"Alright" she finally said "I'll go get the others!" Dash then sped off back into the village; Celestia watched her go then looked back to the Everfree.

"Be careful Twilight" Celestia said to herself in a slight whisper, silently hoping Soul would be able to control his power, fearing for his safety above all else.

Twilight soon found herself in the deep undergrowth of the Everfree as she continued to chase after her scared friend, she had lost sight of Soul after he had darted into the tree's but she could still sense him ahead of her despite not being able to see him.

"Soul please be ok" she said to herself as she darted between trees and bushes, suddenly the tree line broke into a large circular clearing and Twilight saw Soul standing at the opposite side trying to find a way thru the thick vegetation " Soul!" she cried out as she ran to him, Soul looked at her in fear.

"Twilight stay back!" he shouted, his scared tone made Twilight skid to a stop, she saw that Soul was shaking almost uncontrollably and a small glint of the magical aura from before was beginning to glow around him, his cutie mark was glowing a bright blue light in response.

"Soul" Twilight continued in a soft tone taking a small step towards him " you don't have to be scared, I understand how you feel but I can help you…we can help you" Soul began to cry again, the sight of this made Twilights heart break a little, hating to see any of her friends in such despair.

"I-I don't want to hurt you" Soul stuttered between sobs "I-I don't want to be some weapon" Twilight took another step towards him keeping calm.

"You won't be I promise" she assured him "we can work thru this together, I can help you learn to control your magic, I don't care if you're an Aura, your my friend, and I will never let harm come to you no matter what" Soul looked at her with an expression of gratefulness, his aura slowly began to fade, however a look of worry passed over his face.

"But what if I lose control and hurt you or somepony else?" he asked, Twilight smiled taking another step closer, now a few feet from him.

"We'll make sure that won't happen, and we won't be alone, we have all our other friends to help us also, Applejack, Rarity, Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all wanna make sure your safe and happy as much as you want them safe, and they'll help you too, we will help each other to grow stronger" Twilight replied as she took another step, she was now directly in front of Soul and gently hugged him reassuringly, Soul tensed slightly but soon relaxed and hugged her back crying into her shoulder a little, Twilight smiled letting him before stepping back and looked at him, Soul wiped his eyes blushing a little embarrassed by his breakdown.

"I'm sorry Twilight" he finally said after composing himself " I don't know what came over me, all that talk of Aura's and magic just got to me I guess" Twilight nodded in understanding.

"I know" she replied "I don't blame you, I'd be hit pretty hard too after finding out something like that" she smiled nudging Soul a little with her head "ready to head back now? The others are waiting for us" Soul nodded smiling, he winced a little, his side still sore, Twilight gasped a little in worry.

"I'm ok! I'm ok!" Soul said quickly looking to her, Twilight sighed and shook her head a little before helping Soul back thru the forest and back towards Ponyville, Celestia and the rest of the group where waiting at Twilights home, Dash was acting as a lookout flying above and when she spotted Soul and Twilight she gave a cry.

"There they are!" she called pointing towards them; Celestia gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness" she said as she walked outside to meet the two, the others all ran out also eager to see them safe as well, Dash flew down and helped Twilight help Soul into the home.

"Soul you're ok!" Fluttershy said in reprieve smiling to him.

"You had us all worried darling!" Rarity followed up with a smile.

"Ya'll just can't just run off like that sugar cube" Applejack scolded a little.

"I love your new hat!" Pinkie said bouncing on her hooves a little, Twilight and Dash gently helped Soul down into a chair, Celestia walked up to them and smiled to him, Soul looked to her with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry for running off" he said, Celestia shook her head however.

"We understand Soul" Celestia told him with a warm smile "I understand your fear, but as I'm sure Twilight said, we'll all help you" the group all nodded in agreement, Soul smiled to each one of them with a thankful smile.

"Thanks you guys" he finally said, Applejack then walked up to him with a frown.

"But right now Mr" she said in a low tone "you better get your flank to bed before I hogtie you!" Soul jumped at her words.

"Yes ma'am!" he said quickly, Twilight laughed and helped Soul up to a spare room on the second floor of her home and into the bed, she sat with him for a little while until Soul finally drifted off the sleep, tired from the ordeal, Twilight smiled moving his fringe out of his face.

"Things are about to get a lot more lively around here I'm guessing" she said smiling to him before getting up " and we'll meet it together".

When Twilight made her way down to the others, she found they were all discussing the day's events; Celestia had taken her leave and returned to Canterlot after seeing things where in order.

"Aura pony huh? Can't say that I've ever heard of it" Dash murmured from her perch up ontop of a bookshelf, Applejack nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like one of Appleblooms bedtime stories to me" she said "But personally I couldn't give two hoots what Soul is, a friend is a friend no matter what the situation" the others nodded in agreement.

"It is rather marvellous though isn't it?" Rarity asked "being something so rare and literally mythical must be a wonderful feeling" Fluttershy rolled her eyes a little.

"But he looked so scared" she added looking worried "I wouldn't like to think what would've happened if Twilight hadn't found him" Twilight frowned a little walking up to them.

"Guys that's enough" she said in a scolding tone "Soul needs us to have faith in him, I agree this is unexpected but that's no excuse to treat him differently" the others all nodded in agreement, Dash flipped off the bookshelf and landed on her hooves next to Twilight.

"Well I don't know about that but what I do know is that it's awesome!" she said with a smirk "did you see the look on Trixie's face!? I don't think I've seen her that ruffled since Twilight showed her up with the Ursa Minor" the others all laughed and nodded in agreement, Twilight smiled, happy to see everyone happy again.

"I guess I have a student of my own to teach now…this will be a challenge but…Spike!" she called, Spike zoomed in out of nowhere holding a note pad and quill, instantly knowing what Twilight wanted.

"I got it!" he said, Twilight smiled and started pacing around the room with Spike following her.

"We're gunna need to asked Princess Celestia to supply us with all the information she has on Aura's and their magic" Spike nodded writing something down on the note pad as Twilight continued " we'll also need to set up some practise dummy's for Soul to aim his magic towards, we can't have him firing off shots randomly everywhere…oh and we're gunna need to set up the home a little for Soul, I think it would be easier if he stayed with us for a while" While Twilight continued to list of requirements, the others all laughed at her need for organisation before saying goodbye and heading home, before leaving Dash flew up to Souls bedroom window and hovered in front of it looking at him.

"Get well soon new guy" she said with a smirk "can't wait to see what you do next" with a small salute to her sleeping friend, Dash sped off into the sky, leaving a rainbow blur behind her.

That night in Canterlot, many pony's where indoors getting ready for bed, leaving the streets empty save for a few royal guards on patrol. A thin layer of mist covered the town thanks to the cool night air and the silence was deafening.

A dull wind then blew thru the main street and a figure soon appeared out of the fog walking down the road, their hooves clopping lightly against the stone as they walked, the figure was dressed in a black coat and hood that hid their features from head to hoof.

As they walked, the figure glanced to a group of guards who were walking in the opposite direction and quickly ducked into a side alley to avoid being seen, the guards passed without notice and the figure peered out at them before continuing down the road, soon they reached the town square which had a fountain in the centre, the hooded pony stopped next to it and looked up at the Canterlot palace which was dark against the night sky save for a few lit windows.

"Soon I'll take back what you took from me…Princess Celestia" the figure said, her voice was feminine yet had a dark and vengeful taint to it, the figure then smirked before softly laughing in a malicious manner, her eyes began to glow with a magical orange colour which shone with a bright light, the pony laughed a little louder and her unicorn horn began to glow the same orange colour before casting a spell which set of a bright flash, when the light faded the hooded pony had disappeared, but her laugh echoed thru the night a little until fading back to silence.

Up in the palace, Celestia woke with a start, having been woken by a bad feeling she couldn't explain, with a small frown she got up and walked to her window looking down at the Canterlot town square, however she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"…something tells me things are about to get a lot more lively around here" she muttered with a troubled expression " I just hope Twilight, Soul and the others are ready for it".


	3. Chapter 3

**My Little Pony:**

**Friendship & Courage**

**Chapter: 3 "Student & Farmhand"**

"Alright Soul, try it again" Twilight instructed, Soul nodded as he frowned at a training dummy in front of him, he then closed his eyes in concentration, nothing happened for a few moments but then a faint blue glow of Souls aura began to appear around him and steadily grew, Twilight smiled seeing this "That's it you're doing it!" she said happily, Soul however suddenly barred his teeth and his aura flashed before setting off a small explosion causing a smoke cloud, when it faded Soul was laying on the ground covered in soot, Twilight sighed a little "Well at least we're getting close" she said with a smile.

After Souls identity as an Aura had become apparent, Twilight has taken it upon herself to teach him how to use his magic effectively and responsibly and every moment of free time the two had was taking up with magical practise and study, Soul was a good student and was almost as much a bookworm as Twilight was, however when I came to practical magic use he was still struggling.

"I just don't understand" he said as he got up looking to Twilight "I've read all the books on magical theory and manipulation and I understand how unicorns use magic, but I just can't seem to produce the same results" Twilight smiled a little and walked to him.

"Well you aren't a unicorn remember?" she reminded him "maybe the way Aura's use magic is different, I'll have to reread the information Princess Celestia sent us, in the meantime why don't you meditate a little, meditation can help you concentrate" Soul nodded as he watched Twilight head back into her home, he then walked to the edge of the yard and sat down with his back legs crossed under him and rested his front hooves on his knees, he sighed, closed his eyes and began to relax.

For the next few minutes, Soul sat in silence, listening to noises from the village around him, he began going over everything he and Twilight had worked in the past week, remembering the hours of studying, discussions and magical practise, while Soul pondered these thoughts, he unknowingly began to shine with his aura which radiated from him like a shining light, pony's passing by stopped to watch in curiosity, inside the home, Twilight noticed the shine from out of a window, she looked out seeing Soul and smiled seeing his progress "That's much better" she said to herself as she watched, Soul meanwhile has fallen into a state of semi-sleep, slipping in out of dreams made up of him utilising his magic.

"SOUL!" instantly Soul was snapped out of his trance, is aura faded as quickly as it appeared.

"What? What?" he exclaimed a little looking around, he saw Applejack standing on the opposite side of the backyard fence watching him, she was frowning slightly which made Soul confused as to why as he got up and walked over to her " Hi Applejack" he said with a smile "what brings you here?" Applejack didn't return his friendly expression.

"I'm here for you!" she said "I've been a waiting for hours for ya'll down at the farm! I thought you said you wanted a job!" Soul's eyes widened in realisation.

"I forgot!" he responded "Applejack I'm sorry, Twilight and I just got so caught up in magical study I didn't even think of it" Applejack narrowed her eyes a little.

"Well that's as plain as the mane on your head!" she replied "but I don't care for your excuses! Get your sorry flank down to the farm right now!" at once Soul bolted back inside the home, grabbed his coat and was out the door before Twilight could even notice, when she did she ran out looking confused.

"What's the big rush?" she questioned, Spike shrugged a little standing next to her.

"When you gotta go you gotta go I guess" he said, Twilight just rolled her eyes at him.

Soul arrived at Sweet Apple Acres a few moments later, he skidded to a stop in front of the farm house and stood panting a little to get his breath back, Applejack came up next to him a second later.

"Alright then!" she began "If your gunna work on this here farm your gunna have to earn it" she then grabbed two large baskets held together by a shoulder brace and threw it over Souls back, he looked at them in curiosity as Applejack continued "Your first job is to fill those there baskets with as many apples as you can, then bring them back here, you do know how to Applebuck don't you?" Soul nodded his head a little at the question.

"Of cause I do" he answered, Applejack smiled a little and nodded back.

"Great! Well then get going, I expect at least 20 basketfuls of apples to be sitting here when I get back" with a tip of her hat, Applejack turned and strode off to another part of the farm, Soul meanwhile made his way to the apple orchards.

"Collecting apples doesn't sound too bad" he said to himself as he opened the orchard gate and walked inside 'how hard could it be?", Soul walked over to the first apple tree and turned his back to it, he then swiftly kicked the trunk with his back legs, the tree shook a little and a few apples fell from the branches into his basket, Soul looked back to the baskets expecting to see them full of apples, however he was greatly disappointed " that's all?" he questioned as he looked up at the remaining apples in the treetop, he sighed a little and proceeded to applebuck the tree again, this time collecting more apples then before.

For the next 2 hours, Soul continually made his way thru the orchard, kicking tree after tree until both baskets where full to the brim with apples, he then took them back to the farm house and deposited them into a large crate, he repeated this back and forth until finally he had filled the crate with 20 loads of apples and sat panting and sweating against the side.

"Well looks like you did an ok job" Applejack said as she walked over and inspected his work, Soul smiled and stood up expecting his work to be over, however he was dead wrong, before he had a chance to protest, Applejack had set him to work collecting eggs and milking cows, while not overly strenuous work, Soul found it harder than he anticipated, the chickens where not about to give up their eggs without a fight and mercilessly pecked and clawed at Soul until he beat a hasty retreat out of the chicken coop, now covered in scratches and feathers, the cows weren't any better, after finally catching one, Soul had to endure painful kicks, head-butts and even had to outrun an angry stampede after he accidently knocked over his milking bucket causing a loud noise, finally after yet another few hours, Soul basically dragged himself back to the farm house with what eggs and milk he was able to collect, Applejack was waiting for him with a smile as he placed his spoils at her feet and collapsed to the ground.

"Your pretty good at this" Applejack said with a small laugh "but you can't rest just yet" Soul looked up at her with surprise and a little dread, Applejack smirked and pointed to a large bare field just behind the farmhouse "Your last job it to plough that there field" Applejack picked up a neck stock from a pile of farm equipment and placed it around Souls neck, it was similar to the one Big Mac always wore, only a little smaller, Soul felt like giving in, however he didn't want to disappoint Applejack so he promptly forgot his complaints and got to his feet, Applejack seemed impressed with this and smirked as she walked away again "Good luck sugar cube" Soul watched her go before looking to the field with dismay before walking to it and doing inside, he found a plough already waiting for him so he promptly hooked himself up to it and began pulling it thru the ground, making deep grooves thanks to the plough blades, it was very hard work pulling the plough back and forth, the ground was very hard due to little rain and disuse which forced Soul to pull even harder, by the end of his second trip across, Soul was barely on his feet.

"How do they do this every day?" Soul asked himself between pants as he continued pulling, after an hour Soul stopped for a break and looked as his work, he has done about 20 rows of ploughing and smiled a little "That's all of it" he said with a sigh, however as he looked around his ears drooped, there was still almost 3 quarters of the field to go, Soul almost fainted from the realization but he then saw Applebloom sitting at the far side of the fence watching with a smile, she had seen him working on her way home from school and decided to watch him work, she waved to him as he looked at her.

"You're doing great Mr Soul!" she called waving to him, Soul smiled seeing this then smirked looking back to his work.

"Well alright then" he muttered before giving the plough a mighty pull and began his work again, his body screamed for him to stop, however Soul endured and continued to push forward, Applebloom cheered a little as she watched him, over in the opposite field, Applejack heard her sisters cheers and walked to the fence to see what the commotion was about, she was surprised to see Soul was still going, having purposely given him the worst jobs on the farm to see when he would give up, however seeing Soul pushing thru his exhaustion to get the job done made her smile in recognition.

"Well I'll be darned" she said "he'd not doing half bad" Applejack then stopped her work for the moment and leaned on the fence watching Soul with a smile on her face, Big Mac walked up next to her and glanced at her, then looked to see Soul.

"This you're doing?" he asked her, Applejack smirked and nodded.

"Just checking to see how dedicated he is" she replied "think he has what it takes to work here?" Big Mac was silent for a while watching Soul.

"Eyup" he finally said before walking away, Applejack smiled watching him leave then turned back to the front.

"Well I guess its unanimous then".

As the sun began to set over the farm, Soul fell back against the side of the plough and sat looking at the sky exhausted, the field was now completely done and despite the pain he was in Soul felt good about his performance, Applebloom ran over to him and smiled handing him a juice box from her backpack.

"That was awesome Mr Soul!" she said sitting next to him "I haven't seen any pony but my big brother plough a field like that "Soul smiled at her as he took a long drink from the juice box.

"Thanks Applebloom" he replied "I just hope I did a good enough job" Applebloom giggled a little.

"Well looks like your about to find out" she pointed ahead of them and Soul saw Applejack walking over to them with a small frown on her face, Soul quickly got to his feet trying not to look too warn out.

"So you're all done huh?" Applejack questioned him when she reached them, Soul slightly nodded.

"I believe so Applejack" replied, Applejack narrowed her eyes which made Soul visibly wince, however Applejack then smiled and she lightly punched Soul in the shoulder.

"I'm only joking with ya'll!" she said making Soul look at her confused as he rubbed his already throbbing shoulder "you did a A-grade job with those chores I gave you, and from what I've seen you'll fit in fine around here" Soul blinked a little in surprise.

"You, you mean I got the job?" he asked, Applejack smiled and nodded.

"I think you more than earned it" she said "plus I'm sure Applebloom and Big Mac agree right?" she smiled looking to Applebloom who nodded happily, Big Mac walked up next to Applejack and nodded as well, Soul looked to them with gratitude and smiled back.

"Thank you so much you guys!" he said happily "you won't regret this" Applejack smirked again and stepped close to Soul in a slightly intimidating way which made him back up slightly.

"Ya'll better hope we don't" she said " otherwise I'll have ya'll fillysitting Applebloom" Applejack then started laughing seeing Souls expression, Applebloom did the same, Big Mac had walked off back to the farm house, Soul realised the joke and started laughing a little himself, however he and Applejack were suddenly hit with a water balloon, drenching them.

"APPLEBLOOM!" they both yelled frowning to Applebloom who was already running for her life laughing and giggling loudly as the two gave chase.

It was getting dark by the time Soul made it back to Twilights home, he was still sore from his work on the farm but happy at the result, he smiled as he stepped up to the door and knocked.

"Twilight I'm home!" he called, he stood waiting for the door to open however no one came, Soul looked a little confused and knocked again "Twilight?" he questioned, he walked to a window and looked inside, the home was dark and he could faintly here the sound of Spike snoring in bed on the level above, frowning a little, Soul walked back to the door and opened it walking inside "hey spike!" he called, Spike just rolled over not responding, Soul started to get a little annoyed and climbed up to Spikes bed area "SPIKE!" he yelled, making the young dragon jump a foot and snap awake, he landed with a crash in his bed and sat up rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey hey I'm up, no need to yell" he murmured still groggy

"Sorry" Soul said dropping back down to the ground floor; Spike looked over the side of his bed at him rubbing his eye.

"Oh, welcome home Soul" he said with a yawn" how was your first day at work at the farm?"

"It was fine" Soul replied as he looked around "Where's Twilight?" he asked looking back to Spike, Spike blinked a little and looked around himself.

"Um, I don't actually know" he said shrugging; Soul frowned a little before heading up the stairs to Twilights room and knocked.

"Twilight?" he called, there was no answer, Spike came up behind Soul still yawning and dragging his feet.

"Oh that's right" he said making Soul look at him "I think she said something about going out for a walk" Soul rolled his eyes at him, suddenly they both heard a loud crash coming from outside.

"Let go of me!" yelled Twilights voice, Soul frowned hearing this, turned and ran back down the stairs, Spike quickly grabbed onto Souls mane and pulled himself up onto his back as they ran out the door.

"Twilight?!" Soul shouted looking around.

"Over there!" Spike cried pointing off the to the side, Soul looked in the direction and saw Twilight over by the edge of the Everfree being held up in the air by magic, a pony was standing in front of her dressed in a black hood and cloak, their horn shining the same colour as the magical aura around Twilight, Soul glared and ran as fast as he could to the area.

"Hey!" he shouted, making both Twilight and the hooded unicorn look at him, the unicorns eyes where glowing orange and she glared at him, before Soul could react, the unicorn used her magic to throw Twilight towards Soul and Spike, making them crash into each other, while the trio where busy recovering, the unicorn retreated back into the undergrowth of the Everfree and disappeared, Soul got up rubbing his head then quickly helped Twilight to her hooves "are you ok?" he asked her looking worried, Twilight shook her head looking a little dizzy but nodded.

"I am now" she replied "thanks for helping me" she smiled to Soul then frowned looking to the Everfree, Soul looked also and frowned concerned.

"Who was that?" he asked looking back at Twilight, however she shook her head.

"I don't know" she said "she didn't tell me her name, but she kept on saying something about getting back what was hers" Soul frowned more at this but nodded.

"Let's get back home, I'm not sure being out and about right now is the best idea" he muttered, Twilight and Spike nodded and with Soul they marched back to the home and went inside, locking the door and windows, afterwards, Twilight sat at her desk with a coffee while Soul placed a Band-Aid over a cut on her cheek.

"I'm fine Soul really" she assured him as he sat opposite her, Soul nodded and took a sip of his own coffee.

"Sorry" he said taking another sip " just making sure, guess I'm still a little on edge after seeing Trixie attack you the other week" Twilight nodded then looked to Spike who was pacing back and forth in front of the door like a guard.

"I don't think the one who attacked me tonight was Trixie though" she finally said 'she'd never disguise herself, her ego's to big" Twilight took a sip of her coffee frowning a little at the window, Soul nodded as he stared at the desk top thinking about who he saw, he could of sworn the unicorn whom had attacked them had said his name, though he quickly thought better of it, he looked back to Twilight and saw she was smiling at him "So how was your first day working at Sweet Apple Acres?" she asked, Soul blinked a little at her change of topic but smiled.

"Tough" Soul replied with a small laugh "Applejack can be a slave driver sometimes" Twilight giggled a little and nodded.

"I know what you mean" she replied, soon the two were talking and laughing happily again, the incident with the unknown unicorn forgotten.

Meanwhile in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was finishing off her final few duties before heading to bed; she smiled as she signed the final royal partition and put her quill down.

"That's everything: she concluded getting up and stretching a little, sitting on a throne all day could make one very stiff, Celestria smiled as she walked down off the throne steps and opened the side door leading to the palace hall, as she walked thru the hall she passed Luna who was on her way to the throne room to begin her shift as ruling Princess of the night in Celestia's absence "Have a good evening Luna" Celestia said with a smile and nod to her, Luna nodded back.

"Same to you sister" she replied with a small smile of her own, Celestia watched her sister walk away before continuing down the hall, as she walked she looked out of the windows as she passed seeing the royal garden.

"Maybe an evening stroll is in order before retiring for the night" Celestia decided, she made her way to the garden passage and walked down the stone path into the main flora area, the garden was as royal as the palace itself, with many different breeds of flowers and plants, all kept neat and tidy by the palace workers, situated in various spots around the gardens stood statues of different makes and designs which only added to the gardens beauty, Celestia smiled as she strode down the path which circled the garden, smelling a few flowers here and there as she passed, it wasn't often she was able to walk like this without some form of protection or guard and tonight was one of those rare occasions she could forget about being a Princess and just be herself, Celestia came to a stop in the middle of the garden where a lone statue stood in the centre of the paved courtyard, it was one of the stranger statues in the garden, at first glance it appeared to be a dragon, but upon closer inspection, one could see it was made up of different creatures, such as a goat, and a chicken, Celestia gave the statue a strange caution as if it were alive and kept her distance as she explored the area, finally walking up to the statue and looking it in the eyes " That reminds me" she finally said as if talking to the statue itself " I must look into Luna's concerns of a sorceress causing trouble in the town, with all this business with our new friend, a dark unicorn is the last thing we need don't you agree?" Celestia paused for a moment as if expecting the statue to reply then chuckled a little before turning and walking back down the path to the palace and closed the door behind her, the garden returned to its silent beautiful state following the princess's departure, the statue she was talking to standing as motionless as ever, however if anyone was around at the time they probably could've sworn they saw the statues eyes blink and a smirk appear on its face.


End file.
